Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 14h

Congratulations to Daniel Gustafsson. Just spent a few days kicking around Croatia with him as part of the Lit Link festival. Not only is he an excellent translator, but he’s published what sounds like an amazing novel centered around oyster farming. And a fun travel companion!

Daniel Kennedy @fliglman.bsky.social · 16h

yer man's Swedish translators reaction when you only congratulate his English translators

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Jenny Croft @jenniferlcroft.bsky.social · 16h

I took this picture of Olga and László in London in 2018. Congrats to Krasznahorkai and his translators, including George Szirtes and @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social, and long live a Central Europe free of dictators (foreign and domestic) and full of magnificent minds like these!

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GW @gwoltjer.bsky.social · 3d

This book haunts me. It’s absolutely amazing. Quite possibly the best book @sandorfpassage.bsky.social has ever published. Don’t miss out on this book.

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 4d

Roberta Flack’s First Take: “Compared to What.”

Discogs @discogsofficial.bsky.social · 4d

Which album has the best opening track of all time?

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 4d

News to me, so thanks for the tip. I just picked up the book the other day here in Zagreb.

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 4d

Wow! Muriel Spark’s The Driver’s Seat is a breathtakingly sad and stunning read.

Image of The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 7d

Yup.

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 7d

If only all bookstores pushed @sandorfpassage.bsky.social titles like they do here in Zagreb.

Sandorf Passage books on display in a bookstore in Zagreb, Croatia

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 9d

It’s International Translation Day! Great to see @tobiascarroll.bsky.social has included Ellen Elias-Bursać’s translation of Bedbugs by Martina Vidaić, winner of the 2023 European Union Prize for Literature, on the @wwborders.bsky.social September Watchlist. wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

The Watchlist: September 2025 - Words Without Borders

This International Translation Day, Tobias Carroll recommends poetry by Afghan women, fiction from Croatia and Mozambique, and more.

wordswithoutborders.org

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 10d

Bedbugs (tr. Ellen Elias-Bursać) is the September pick for the Asymptote Book Club! “Pushing the frenetic and confessional potentials of the epistolary form, Martina Vidaić charts the psychological dissolution of her protagonist.” Read the full review here: www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2025/09...

Announcing Our September Book Club Selection: Bedbugs by Martina Vidaić - Asymptote Blog

Vidaić’s novel calls out and works within irreconcilable contrasts: inside and outside, urban and rural, educated and less so. . .

www.asymptotejournal.com

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 15d

What happens to the book now?

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 15d

@joshthelibromancer.bsky.social wins the internet today. 👇👇👇👇

Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social · 15d

This whole society-by-group-chat seems to have some flaws

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 16d

“What I saw in this text was not just the pain of gender and patriarchal constraint but the resilience and complexity of identity forged at its margins.” Reading in Translation interviews @izidoraangel.bsky.social about Rene Karabash’s She Who Remains. readingintranslation.com/2025/09/22/i...

Izidora Angel on Translating from Bulgarian Rene Karabash's "She Who Remains"

In this interview, Izidora Angel unravels some of the mysteries behind her latest translation, discusses her choices and decisions as a translator, and hints at some of her own creative writing projec...

readingintranslation.com

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 18d

Before and after: @bkbookfest.bsky.social table #334 before the book lovers show up. See you today?

Sandorf Passage table at Brooklyn Book Festival before setting up

Sandorf Passage Brooklyn Book Festival table after setting up

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 21d

After you pick up your @wwborders.bsky.social passport @bkbookfest.bsky.social this weekend, swing by booth #334 to get your passport stamped, and, you know, buy some books!

Words Without Borders & WWB Campus @wwborders.bsky.social · 27d

Are you headed to the Brooklyn Book Festival’s Festival Day on September 21? So are we! Come find us at booth #308. We’ll have a raffle full of books and other goodies from our partner presses, WWB stickers, international candy, and as always, we’ll be excited to chat about our work with you!

Catch us at the Brooklyn Book Festival, September 14-22, 2025
Booth 308
Sunday, 9/21
Festival Day & Literary Marketplace

We’re partnering with translation presses at the festival to bring you the global lit-themed raffle prizes of your dreams!
Visit our booth to find out how to enter the raffle, chat with us about international literature, and snag international candy and WWB stickers while supplies last

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 22d

We’re thrilled that @gayadorno.bsky.social, who is responsible for the brilliant translation from Kurdish of Sener Ozmen’s The Competition of Unfinished Stories, is one of the literary hosts for this year’s @wwborders.bsky.social gala!

Words Without Borders & WWB Campus @wwborders.bsky.social · 24d

Exciting news for your Monday: Today, we announced the literary hosts for our Annual Gala on October 29! Join host Vanessa Chan and @natashawimmer.bsky.social , @meghamaj.bsky.social , @monaeltahawy.bsky.social , and more writers and translators for an evening of global lit: wwborders.live/2025Gala

Introducing this year’s literary hosts at the
Words Without Borders Annual Gala
Wednesday, October 29
Edison Ballroom in NYC

Words Without Borders
Annual Gala
Literary Hosts
For more information and tickets:
wwborders.live/2025Gala
+ square photos of all 23 literary hosts

Words Without Borders Annual Gala
Hosted by
Vanessa Chan
Author of The Storm We Made
wwborders.live/2025Gala
+ a photo of Vanessa Chan

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · 23d

September is both #nationaltranslationmonth and @bkbookfest.bsky.social. So here are some translated novels (and a poetry collection) that will be on sale this Sunday at booth #334. Of course, we’ll have more to choose from. So, swing by, say hey, and buy some books!

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 26d

Well, now there are three of them: www.wbur.org/news/2025/08...

With new member in Maine, the number of Shakers in the U.S. rises to 3

The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine is the last active Shaker community in the United States. And until a few months ago, there were only two members.

www.wbur.org

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Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · 28d

Read Vera Mutafchieva’s THE CASE OF CEM (@sandorfpassage.bsky.social) this #TranslationMonth!

This novel translated by Angela Rodel is a “blend of court intrigue, tragedy, and historical fact that masterfully captures complex layers of history.” —Asymptote Journal sandorfpassage.org/product/the-...

The Case of Cem – sandorfpassage.org

This will only take a…

sandorfpassage.org

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · 29d

Cory is an unquestionably insightful reviewer and exceptionally good when it comes to writing about translated work.

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · Sep 9

Me too, and Doonesbury.

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Buzz Poole @buzzpoole.bsky.social · Sep 9

While also maintaining genuinely dynamic coverage of books.

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · Sep 8

For anyone who missed this on Friday, @coryoldweiler.bsky.social wrote a great review of Bedbugs, winner of the 2023 European Union Prize for Literature, @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · Sep 5

“Elias-Bursać’s translation is linguistically lovely and stylistically luxurious.” @coryoldweiler.bsky.social gets under the hood on the translation of Bedbugs and rightly recognizes how this novel distinguishes itself from other contemporary Croatian ones. lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-li...

A Life Infested with Doubt | Los Angeles Review of Books

Cory Oldweiler reviews Croatian author Martina Vidaić’s novel “Bedbugs,” newly translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać.

lareviewofbooks.org

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Cory Oldweiler @coryoldweiler.bsky.social · Sep 5

Haven’t had many opportunities lately to write about fiction from the Balkans, but I’m thankful @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social gave me a chance to review Croatian author Martina Vidaić's novel "Bedbugs," trans. by Ellen Elias-Bursać, about a woman at an inflection point in her life.

A Life Infested with Doubt | Los Angeles Review of Books

Cory Oldweiler reviews Croatian author Martina Vidaić’s novel “Bedbugs,” newly translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać.

lareviewofbooks.org

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sandorfpassage.bsky.social @sandorfpassage.bsky.social · Sep 5

“Elias-Bursać’s translation is linguistically lovely and stylistically luxurious.” @coryoldweiler.bsky.social gets under the hood on the translation of Bedbugs and rightly recognizes how this novel distinguishes itself from other contemporary Croatian ones. lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-li...

A Life Infested with Doubt | Los Angeles Review of Books

Cory Oldweiler reviews Croatian author Martina Vidaić’s novel “Bedbugs,” newly translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać.

lareviewofbooks.org

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